Dreams Do Come True
by lei sa che lei mi ama
Summary: A girl and her best friend end up meeting hockey star Sidney Crosby and other Penguins in their senior year of high school through a stroke of sheer dumb luck. As their friendships with the guys grow, will they find love? Or will confusion and chaos ensue
1. One: That would happen to us

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pittsburgh Penguins (unfortunately) or anything related to their franchise. This is all fictional for the most part. Annie and Andy are the only people I own. Also, I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors. I did my best.**

_The main character is Annie __Amoretti. __Annie is short for Anita Marie. She is 18 years old as of January 13, 2009. She is 5'3'' and about 120 lbs. Her eyes are grayish blue, but change color with whatever she's wearing. Her hair is shiny and chocolate brown. It is sometimes curly, sometimes pin straight, depending on how she dries it. She is very naturally beautiful, but not flashy; the kind of girl who can go out with no makeup and in sweats and still look good. She is a total oxymoron. She's shy around new people, but outgoing and the center of attention in a crowd of familiar faces. She's very smart and has a lot to say, but keeps it to herself most times. She likes to be silly and make people laugh, but she's very serious and goal oriented._

_Annie's best friend and pseudo-sister is Andy, short for Andrea. Andrea isn't as big of a dreamer as Annie. She is much more skeptical and realistic. They share some very important similarities, but have many more differences. They compliment each other in many ways which is why they have remained inseparable friends for 13 years. Andy is tall, 5'9'' with an athletic build from many years of playing basketball. Her hair is light brown/dirty blonde. She has the exact eye color of Annie. She is smart, witty, and sarcastic. She is usually very reserved, but when provoked can cut you down in a matter of 3 words. She is the Laverne to Annie's Shirley._

_All the Penguins are self explanatory. Please keep in mind, I do not know any of them personally (at least not that well), so I don't know how accurate my portrayal of them is. Most of this is fiction although a few things are true. Also a special note in regards to Evgeni Malkin—I am aware he does not have a full grasp on the English language, but for the sake of my sanity he's going to be pretty fluent in this story. I'll try my best to make it more believable, but seeing as I've never had a conversation with him I have no idea how advanced he is._

My heel tapped spastically in excitement. Anxiously, I jammed my finger onto the pause button of my iPod and complained to my best friend Andy to hurry up. Andy shot back, "I don't know why you're in such a damn hurry! We are already 2 hours early!"  
"I know, I know! I just really want everything to be perfect. I'm so excited for this. A night with my best friend in the entire world at my favorite place in the entire world! I need to mentally prepare myself for this. Front row seats And! Front row! Oh, and don't forget, right by the entrance to the locker room!"  
Andy sighed, "This is going to be a long night for me isn't it?"

"Oh shut up! I know you're just as excited as I am. You're just being difficult."

Andy and I were sitting in heavy rush hour traffic on the Veterans Bridge. I could see the Igloo from my seat in the comfy leather of her mom's SUV. It was still two hours from the first face-off, but I had a strict game day routine to stick to. It starts out with a casual stroll past the player parking lot to watch them all arrive. This stroll would take us to the Bruegger's a few blocks away for some bagels.

When the arena opened up, we would take our seats in the front row and get ready to watch the warm-up. During the warm-up, I would stand with my face pressed up against the glass, just watching. I refuse to wave stupid signs and jump up and down and scream. After all, I'm no puck bunny. I usually wear long jeans and a jersey to games and try to be sparse with my make up. I genuinely enjoy the game of hockey, and I actually do know what is going on most of the time. I will admit I do have one fatal flaw. I am a sucker for Sidney Crosby. I know what you're thinking: you and half the teenage girls in America. I'm not proud of it, but I manage to cope. Besides, it is kind of fun to experience the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I see him on the other side of the glass along with the shaky feeling in my legs and the fluttering in my chest and abdomen. I sound cliché, I know, but I like to stray from the norm a lot in life, so I had to revert back to the standard in one department. But anyways….I'm rambling…..

"Hey, we're here! Let's go! Five minutes ago you were in a big hurry," Andy startled me out of my reverie.

"You see, this is why I love Pens fans!" I gushed as we made our way through the rows and rows of tailgaters downing beer and blasting music from the back of their truck beds. Andy surveyed the parking lot skeptically. "Yea, these people are true winners," she quipped. "Alright, they're a little strange, but their hearts are in the right place," I said, laughing. We wandered past the players' parking lot on our way to Bruegger's. "Hmmm…I don't see any activity," I conceded after a few minutes of studying the parking lot. Andy eyed the puck bunnies and little hockey player wannabes suspiciously. "Yeah, they look kind of bored. I bet you no one has come by for a while," she concluded. "Let's just head over and get some bagels." I sighed and began to cross the street. "Watch," she predicted, "as soon as we get across the street someone important will come."

We approached the corner by a red light. I stopped abruptly and stared in disbelief. "I don't even believe this. You were right." I said slowly.

"What?"

"Look," I said calmly, "There's Jordan Staal." I pointed in the direction of an Escalade waiting at the intersection.

"WHAT!? OH MY GOD! NO WAY!"

The light turned green and the car zoomed by us and began to turn into the arena. "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S JORDAN STAAL!" Andy screeched excitedly. "HA! NOW who is overly enthusiastic?" I joked. We stood there for a second staring at the retreating SUV then looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Let's go!" We started sprinting across the street, heedless to oncoming traffic (hey, pedestrian right of way!). I had almost cleared four lanes of traffic when I saw an oncoming BMW. I skidded to a halt in the middle of the road, before I was in its path, not because I didn't want to get hit but because I had looked more closely at who the driver was. Kris Letang himself had slowed down and was peering out at me curiously from behind the wheel. I froze and stared back, completely dumbstruck. I'm not sure why but everything moved in slow motion. Here was a Penguin, one of the people I admire most, mere feet from me. After what felt like an eternity but was really only a few seconds, he was gone, and I jogged the rest of the way across the street and waited for Andy to make it.

"Did that really just happen?" she questioned.

"I think so…..."

"That _would _happen to us. Only we would…OH MY GOD….there he is!"

I looked over to the parking lot just as Jordan was climbing out of his car. Kris pulled his car in next to Jordan and got out. I watched their retreating backs as they disappeared inside the arena. "Well, that was certainly exciting," I laughed somewhat shakily.

"Yea! You almost got crushed!"

"Um, excuse me, who was the one who started screaming like thirteen year old meeting Zac Efron?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I did no such thing," she denied, her cheeks tinged pink. "Riiiiiiight…so anyways, let's go get our bagels." "Yes. Bagels. Right. Good idea." I smiled knowingly. Andy would deny her crush on Jordan Staal until she was blue in the face. It was cute, like we were 10 years old. "Andy, mon ami, I have a feeling our night has barely begun." What I didn't know was that this was the understatement of the century.

**Ok kids, end of chapter one. Feel free to review, but be nice. I'm just throwing my thoughts out on paper really. It's probably not too good. Actually, this chapter was somewhat based on a real life experience. I did kind of run out in front of Kris Letang by the arena once. Oops. It's pretty short, but I figured this was a good place to stop and I was anxious to post. Chapter Two should be up soon hopefully. Sooner if I get some feedback! Much love! **


	2. Two: Hey guys! Look What I found!

Due to the positive feedback I have received so far, I'm going to continue

**Due to the positive feedback I have received so far, I'm going to continue!! Yay! And to the reviewers, thank you so much! It means a lot to me and inspires me to get going with this story, so keep giving feedback!**

_When we last saw our heroines they were nearly causing accidents in the streets of Pittsburgh, and they decided to end their adventures with some bagels. However, the adventures have only just begun. We join them again after they have entered the arena and are walking towards their seats!_

I was practically skipping to our section in the arena. I bounded past the usher with glee before he could offer his assistance. After all, I knew exactly where I was going. _Section A21, Row A, Seats 1 and 2_, I thought to myself repeatedly. I quickly sashayed down our row and located our seats. I flung myself into my seat and patiently waited for Andy to join me. I turned around and watched with amusement as she slowly made her way down the steps, silently taking in the activity in the slightly dim arena. "Took you long enough!" I teased. "Okay, SO not my fault I'm not peeing my pants in anticipation of the warm-up like you are!" she retorted. Apparently, the post-Jordan Staal-sighting giddiness had worn off.

"You just wait," I said, "you will be plastered to this glass alongside me in a few short minutes." Andy simply shook her head and continued flipping through her _Ice Time_ program. That few short minutes turned into what seemed like a long agonizing year. Or two. I rested my upper body on the edge of the divider in front of me and put my chin on my forearms. My legs how ever were nervously tap dancing on the floor. I'm a dancer so whenever I get nervous, anxious, or excited, I tap dance in place.

All of sudden, the lights came on in the arena. The usual warm up song, Jimmy Eat World's _The Sweetness _(one of my favorite songs), began blasting through the speakers. My foot began tapping into overdrive with the music. Finally, the players began skating out onto the ice, much to the excitement of the growing crowd at the glass. I quelled the urge to jump up and down and start screaming like the 13 year old girls a little ways down my row were. I got the sudden sense that I was at a huge rock concert or something. I looked around at the squealing girls and the little boys who probably played hockey and idolized the players. I saw people of all ages who loved this team more than anything. _Wow, they really are our heroes._

I turned my attention to the ice where Jordan Staal himself was skating by mere inches from the glass. As he skated by he glanced in our direction briefly with a joyful smile on his face. I glanced over at Andy and started laughing hysterically. Her face was flushed, a stupid grin was spread across her face, and she was actually _squealing_. "And, you alright there?" I said laughing. "What? Yeah...sure..." she said distractedly. I taunted, "See! What did I tell you?" She seemed to snap back to reality and stopped shrieking. She looked at my raised eyebrows and grinned sheepishly but quickly turned her attention back to the warm up.

Every few seconds the players would whiz by, sometimes alone, sometimes in a small pack. I didn't have my camera out like some people because I knew it was useless. I had done this before, and I knew that any attempts to take pictures would result in a bunch of blurry wastes of memory space. I watched as Marc-Andre Fleury finished up his stretches and began deflecting the shots aimed at him by the rest of the team. The misguided pucks hit the boards in front of me, and I could feel the vibrations from the force of the powerful collisions. This was what I lived for. I loved this more than anything. The electric atmosphere of the arena was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Involuntarily, a broad grin broke out on my face. Just as this happened, my breath caught in my throat. My heart hammered in my chest and I could feel my knees start shaking. There he was, skating towards the net to shoot. _Sidney Crosby_. I knew in a few seconds he would fly past me and braced myself. As he did, he kept his head down, focused on the game entirely. This is what I had expected, but I still couldn't help feeling a bit dizzy. I could feel my knees were about to give out, and I guess Andy did too because she grabbed my arm and held me up. "You're funny, you know that?" she commented. "Why's that?"

"Because, you don't look excited, you look terrified of him."

"That's because I am. I mean, what would I even do if I met him? What would you do if you met Jordan tonight?"

"Well for one I am not obsessed with Jordan like you are with Sidney…"

I opened my mouth to protest, but she pushed on without missing a beat.

"Another thing is that it doesn't matter. I would just be myself. If that's not good enough for him then screw him. There are plenty of cute guys on his team, and there are plenty of teams in the NHL. Oh and lets not forget the million of eligible bachelors that DON'T play hockey out there."

"And, what would I do without you? You are the voice of reason."

I didn't hear her response however because a puck flew up and hit the glass right in front of my face, distracting me. I laughed and told Andrea to look because Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin were goofing off and pushing each other around out on the ice. One of them had clearly just hit the puck that had smacked into the glass by me. They parted ways by the net, and as they did, Geno looked up right into my eyes, a silly smile still on his face. I couldn't help but keep smiling, mainly because I was frozen on the spot. _Wow, I never realized how cute he is..._

He held my gaze for about 10 seconds, even turning around when his back was to me. I was hypnotized and couldn't tear my eyes away. His look burned into me, and I could feel my face turning red. Finally, he broke our staring contest to chase after a loose puck in front of him. "What the hell was that?!" Andy screeched. "I…I have no idea," I stammered. "UH OH," Andrea trilled brightly, "Does Sid the Kid have some competition in the battle for Annie's heart?!" I giggled with my best friend, "Maybe he does!" She stopped laughing. "Actually," she said solemnly, "That is no battle. It's a war." She looked at my seriously for a second, then started cracking up. "Oh, I just kill myself!" she chuckled. I rolled my eyes and punched her softly on the arm.

Geno made a point of looking at me every time he skated by after that, much to Andy's enjoyment. She waved obnoxiously and blew kisses to him mainly to irritate me, but I just stood there, enraptured by his intense stare. After the players stretched and shot around a bit more, they all skated off the ice. Geno was the only one who remained because as a tradition, he is always the last one off the ice. As I was watching his retreating back, he turned around and glanced back at me one last time. He smirked to himself and continued skating off the ice.

We were playing Tampa Bay, and the Penguins, of course, played an amazing game. Ryan "Bugsy" Malone scored a goal, Sidney scored, and Geno had scored. Unfortunately, the Lightning had miraculously managed to tie it up. We were in our first overtime and I was biting my nails (this was a terrible nervous habit of mine). I watched the puck as it shot from stick to stick. It was in the Penguin zone and Tampa kept firing shot after shot at Marc-Andre Fleury. Amazingly, Marc managed to stop every single one. On one particular rebound, Geno stole the puck and broke away from the action. He skated the entire length of the ice and scored one of the most incredible goals I have ever seen. The arena exploded. The horn blared and the familiar music started playing. Geno began celebrating and threw himself into the glass. I could have sworn I saw him wink at me as he skated by, but then again I was probably just imagining that.

The players all exited the ice. Since we were right by the entrance to the locker room we watched them and congratulated them. They announced the three stars of the game Marc, Sidney, and Geno. When Sidney walked by, oblivious to my presence, I nearly fainted again (I really need to stop dong that). As Geno left the ice, his eyes went right to me, and to my utter astonishment, began walking towards me. I heard a small gasp escape from Andy's lips and saw her mouth drop open out of the corner of my eye. Sadly, I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open too. When he reached the divider he smiled shyly and said, "Hey."

The three of us stood there staring at each other dumbly as I mulled over that one simple word that had just left his mouth. Speaking of his mouth, I found myself gaping at his crooked smile encircled by plump and kissable lips. Realizing someone had to say something, Andy shook off her shock first and said, "Um…Hi, Geno! I'm Andy."

"And you are…?" he inquired. Somewhere in my mind I realized this was directed at me, and after a lot of thought I managed to get out, "Um….Uh…A-Ann…" "Annie," Andrea offered. Thank GOD for this girl! "Her name is Annie," she confirmed. "Annie…I like that name," he said simply. "REALLY?" I blurted out. I mentally smacked myself as he chuckled at me. I felt Andy kick me in the shin. "Yes. Really. Well, Annie and Andy, nice to meet you. Would you like to come to the locker room with me?" he asked. I promptly began choking on my gum. Andy patted me comfortingly on the back and answered him, "Yes, we would love to! I've always wondered what kind of set up you guys have got back there!"

The next thing I knew, the security guards had moved aside the divider somehow, and Geno had taken mine and Andy's arms and was leading us into the darkness. Through my shock and bewilderment I became aware of the fact that my arm was on fire. Through my jersey, I could feel the muscles in his arm against mine. My arm tingled every time I thought about it, which was constantly. I was amazed that this simple contact could cause so much friction.

I finally began getting used to the idea that Evgeni Malkin himself was speaking to me and (OMG) touching me and my first words were, "Why us?" _Wow, such tact, Annie! _ He snapped his head towards me as if I had startled him. "What?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not ungrateful, but why did you decide to come up to us?"

"Because I noticed you. You looked so genuinely happy to be here, watching hockey. You were different. You weren't waving a sign with poor Russian on it, or blowing kisses at us or…screaming."

He shot a sly look at Andy who coughed and turned her head away and pretended to look at a sign on the wall. I fought the urge to laugh because I know he had probably seen her waving and screaming at him through the glass to piss me off earlier.

"Oh."

That was the best I could come up with for now, and Andy was silent for once in her life too. But it didn't really matter because we had reached the door of the locker room. "Okay. We're here. Just so you know, it's going to be very loud and noisy in there," he warned, "But don't be intimidated, you're beautiful girls, they'll be very nice. Too nice, probably," he said cheerfully. I flushed at his compliment and looked over at Andy. I could tell she too was having an internal struggle to contain her excitement. I mean, after all, she was most likely going to be introduced to Jordan Staal tonight, if I had anything to say about it. That is if I ever grew a pair and learned to speak intelligently again. It's funny; Andy meeting Jordan was the second prediction one of us made that came true tonight. _Ok seriously Anita, you've wanted this for a while. Let's calm down, turn on your brain, get some courage, and do this right!_

I turned my gaze to Geno, and finally found myself able to make eye contact. His eyes were gorgeous chocolate brown with a mischievous twinkle in them. I almost faltered until he smiled softly at me and asked, "You ready?" I took a deep breath, smiled brightly, and responded with a solid, "yes!" He pushed open the door and shouted, "Hey guys! Look what I found!"

**OK wow. That took a long time! I worked on it nonstop though because I didn't want to keep you guys waiting! Again, thank you so so much for you reviews and positive feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope you liked this one. Keep voicing your opinions, and chapter three will be out as soon as possible! ******


	3. Three: Hey, wait a minute

**Oh Wow! I am sooo sorry it has taken me this long. I've been out of town and very ****very**** busy with school work. The good news is that I'm still working on this, so don't worry I didn't give up! By the way, thanks for the help everyone! **

**Also, a side note: I know some of the people I write about are no longer with the Penguins, but I figure since I don't know much about the new guys and I miss the old ones, we'll just pretend they're still there. ******

_Annie and Andy are about to start the adventure of a lifetime. They are entering the Penguins locker room, and the possibilities are endless!_

All of a sudden, my senses were assaulted by the chaos hidden behind the doors. A blast of warm air washed over me, and a mixture of sweat and cologne met my nose. Several people were bustling around and trying to yell more loudly than the next. My eyes and ears couldn't focus on just one thing, so instead I picked up tiny fragments of activity. Geno glanced at me and sensing how overwhelmed I was, put his hand on my back to guide me through the mass confusion. Andy followed behind hesitantly.

From what I could see, the locker room was actually an expansive maze of different rooms. At the moment we were standing in what appeared to be a giant rec. room. There were a few chairs and couches, a flat screen TV, refrigerator, video games, and a pool table. Old trophies, plaques, and pictures adorned every inch of wall space. Several hallways and doors branched off from the main room. One door led to a weight room, another led to the showers, and another to a changing room.

"Hey! Gene! What did you find?"

I turned to see Ryan Malone striding past us curiously.

"I found some new friends," Geno replied proudly.

I smiled weakly and waved to him. He smiled warmly at me and boomed, "Well then, nice to meet you! Make yourself at home!"

"Any friend of Geno's is a friend of ours," another voice chimed in.

I turned to see Kris Letang himself approaching from across the room. At this point Andy coughed back a laugh. Geno looked from Andy to me quizzically. I could feel my face slowly turning pink. All of a sudden Kris stopped and really began to look at us. I watched in horror as recognition dawned on his face. "Hey, wait a minute." he said "Aren't you the girl that was running in the street today?" My cheeks began blazing while Andrea laughed uncontrollably, and Geno tried to stifle a laugh. I wanted to punch her in the nose, but I figured I'd just look like even more of a psycho than I already did at the moment. Instead, I got a sudden burst of inspiration and decided to twist this in my favor.

"Yes, yes it was actually. Hey, Andy, would you like to tell him why we were running across the street so carelessly?"

"Um…no, because I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ooooooh reeeally?! You mean I wasn't chasing Jordan Staal across four lanes of traffic just for _you_?"

"N-no!"

Her face matched the crimson color of mine now, so I could tell I'd made my point. As realization hit Kris, Geno chuckled and said, "Why didn't you just say so? Hey! Hey Jordan! Come here!"

Andy blanched, "That really isn't necessary. I mean really, I promise you it's okay…"

"Don't be silly! Jordan will love you. You're pretty_ and_ tall."

"But…but…"

Obviously, her protests were falling on deaf ears. Seconds later, an extremely tall, blonde figure emerged from another room. "What's up, Gene?"

"We have someone we want you to meet. Staalsy, this is Andy."

He made a sweeping gesture with his arm towards her. Andy was turning about ten shades of red. I could see a myriad of emotions sweeping across her face as she looked from me, to Geno, to Kris, to Jordan and back again. I looked over at Jordan and saw him smile as he looked at her. I did an internal cheer for my friend. "Hi! I'm Jordan," he said as he offered her his hand. Andy stared blankly at him for a second then looked down at his hand as if he had leprosy. I decided that since she was so nice to me earlier (well, and she's my best friend in the world), I'd bail her out of this one.  
Knowing her highly competitive nature, I gently pushed her out of the way and grabbed his hand. "Hi!" I said brightly, "I'm Annie!" I grinned up at his 6'4'' frame.

"Why hello, Annie!" he greeted, slightly surprised.

This seemed to jerk Andy back down to earth because she glared at me and promptly shoved me out of the way. "Hey!" she interjected aggressively "I'm Andy, short for Andrea. I'm her best friend." she said through gritted teeth.  
"Well," he began, clearly taken aback, "Can I show you around?"

"Of course you may!" she flirted, pleased with herself.

I looked at Geno as the two wandered off and shrugged. I could tell he understood what I had done and, he smiled approvingly. I couldn't help but blush under his gaze.

"So, do you want to meet the rest of the team?" he asked.

"Um…YEAH! That'd be awesome!" I replied.

"Hey, I'll see you around!" Kris winked at me and walked away before I responded.

I stared after him in amazement for a second then shook my head. I could not believe this was happening to me.

Geno led me around the locker room and introduced me to all the players. I was having such a great time meeting all of them (especially Marc-Andre Fleury because I could practice my French with him), that I forgot about one very important person. We were approaching a large mass of reporters when I finally remembered the missing link from the chain of players I had just met. As soon as the sea began to part and move towards Fleury, I felt a wave of panic wash over me. _Oh my god! This is it, and I don't even have Andy here to have my back!_

"What's wrong?" Geno questioned, seeing the alarm on my face.

"Oh…well…um…"

"Oh! I get it, it's Sidney Crosby! Everyone freaks out about meeting him."

"Really? Well, I'll be fine. I promise."

"Of course you will!"

So, I put on my game face and we progressed forward, weaving our way through lingering reporters. When we got to him, Sidney was just finishing up with a reporter. I remained surprisingly calm while we waited patiently for the reporter to thank Sidney for his time and move on to the next player.  
As soon as the last reporter ran off, Geno spoke up, "Hey Sid!"  
My breath caught in my throat as Sidney looked up. A smile spread across his face when he saw Geno and he replied, "Gene! What's up?" Before Evgeni could respond, he turned his attention to me hiding just behind Geno's shoulder. His smile faltered ever so slightly. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again.

"This is Annie. I just met her, but she's really cool!" Geno said proudly. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me out from behind him slightly, and I extended my hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said shakily. Sidney glanced thoughtfully at my hand which I could tell was shaking slightly. I felt like the entire room could hear my heart pounding in my chest, but the beam I had plastered on my face was betraying nothing. Finally, as if in slow motion, he took my hand in his and shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you too," he replied quickly, "I'm uh…um…"

"Sidney?" Geno offered.

"Crosby!" Sid finished.

In that moment, I was thinking two things. One, I was really glad I wasn't the only person who couldn't remember their name. And two, I was thinking about the clichéd jolts of electricity shooting up my arm. I could tell he was avoiding eye contact, which was really starting to freak me out until he finally looked up and locked our eyes. The world around me completely stopped. The only thing I could see was Sidney Crosby right in front of me, staring back at me with his gorgeous hazel eyes. I was in heaven, I decided, and I was never going to move a muscle ever again.

Unfortunately, Sidney seemed to realize we had been awkwardly holding hands for an unusually long amount of time. He suddenly cleared his throat and dropped my hand. The tingly, warm, fuzzy, feelings were gone, and reality crashed down on me like a wave.

Sidney continued to shoot me furtive glances as Geno frowned and finally broke the silence and said "So, yeah, anyways, Annie, that was the team! I'll take you back out to the main room so I can go change." I felt like I was waking up from a dream as he quickly steered me away from Sidney, dazed and confused. I glanced over my shoulder only to find Sid looking back at me with an odd expression on his face. When he saw me looking back though, he quickly looked away.

When we reached the main room, Geno stopped and turned to me. "Yeah, so I'm thinking we're going out tonight!" he said brightly.

"Seriously?" I said more to myself than to Geno.

Despite my growing comfort with the situation, something was beginning to bother me in the back of my mind. A comfortable silence followed our laughter until I blurted out, "Okay, did you just randomly decide to make us your temporary groupies for the night?" Realizing how bitchy I sounded, I backtracked, "What I mean is, you said you saw us, and we looked special. So you just randomly decide to invite us to the locker room? What if we were two psycho puck bunnies?!"

At first he looked terrified by my sudden outburst. He recovered quickly though and burst out laughing. When he finally composed himself he said, "Wow, sorry. I just didn't see that coming out of you. I like this new side! It's feisty!"

As hard as it was to maintain my composure while he was constantly shooting off flirty compliments, I managed to do my signature eyebrow raise and say, "well?"

"Okay, to be honest, I've noticed you guys before," he admitted.

"What? When?"

"I dunno exactly, sometime at the beginning of the season. You're not always in the same seats, but I've managed to find you at every game. I've kind of made it a challenge for myself. I've been trying to figure out a way to approach you for a while now. Tonight was perfect because you guys were right by the entrance to the locker rooms."

"Oh…wow…"

"So, yeah, that's a little bit of an embarrassing confession on my part. I hope you're not too creeped out."

"Surprisingly, no. I'm thrilled."

This time he didn't say anything, but touched my hand gently and smiled. I looked up at him and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't believe this was happening. Evgeni Malkin had noticed me. _Me._ Oh yeah, and I had just met the love of my life, Sidney Crosby. No big deal.

Interrupting my thoughts, he dropped my hand and asked, "Anyways, I want to take you out tonight. What do you usually do after games?"

"To be honest, I usually just go home. I know it sounds lame, but there's really nothing else for me to do," I answered. I was surprised I was admitting this to him."Tonight, you're coming to Diesel with me and the boys!" he announced.

"I'm not twenty-one though," I protested.

He chuckled, "Doesn't matter! I'm Evgeni Malkin, I'll get you in!" For the first time, I noticed his accent and the cockiness that went along with it. _Kind of hot though…but then there's Sidney…_

He interrupted my thoughts, "Now, I'm going to go change and find Jordan and Andy. You can just chill here and watch TV okay?"  
"Okay…wait!"

"What?"

"What if they don't let us in? What if…"

"Annie!"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry…they'll let us in!"

"But…"

"If not, I promise I'll come bail you out of prison tomorrow morning!"

With that, he laughed mirthfully and jogged away before his statement sunk in. I sighed resignedly. _What have I gotten myself into?!_

**Well, there it is. I hope you enjoyed. So, I realize this story gets more and more unrealistic as it goes along, but it's really like I said, just stuff I randomly daydream about. For all the grammar Nazis out there, I know how you feel, and I'm trying to catch it all, but I have to focus on schoolwork, so I can't spend a TON of time on this. Otherwise, it will continue to take me months at a time to produce. **

**In other news: coming up is probably some Andy point of view!**


	4. Four: You can always learn

**Hey guys, I have been dying to work on this story! I finally got some time over break! This chapter is going to have a few short sections that go back and forth between Andy's and Andy's points of view.**

**Andy's POV:**

I stared in disbelief at the back of Jordan Staal's head in front of me. Yes, Jordan Staal's very blonde head was about two feet from mine. And this time there was no glass between us. Jordan had already taken off his uniform and was wearing his long, black, athletic underwear. As I caught myself studying him from behind I felt myself turn red even though no one was paying attention to me in his shadow. Normally, I would have been pinching myself or waiting to wake up from this too-good-to-be-true dream. I am a cynical creature by nature. However, right then I was too shocked to move my hand to my arm. No, that's not exactly it…I was actually feeling too happy. As a matter of fact, at that moment I was pretty sure the epitome of my happiness had been reached. So instead of ruining it by pinching myself, I let Jordan lead me through the maze of the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room.

He had just taken me around and showed me absolutely everything about the locker room. Currently, I was following him through a crowded hallway. Cameramen, reporters, players, coaches, managers, and random people lined every inch of the hall way. The walls were painted black on the bottom and white on the top with a gold stripe in the middle. Photos of past and current players covered them. The Penguins' logo was everywhere. I was surrounded by Penguins mania and loving every second of it. I had made the executive decision to not pinch myself, but I was jolted awake nonetheless when I slammed into a brick wall in front of me. Actually, it wasn't a brick wall; it was Jordan, who had stopped abruptly in front of me to sign a little girl's jersey.

"Sorry," I gasped.

I dumbly gazed up at him as he turned around and said, "Andy, I think you're cute too, but we just met!" He tried to be serious, but the twinkle in his eye gave away.

I laughed, "I'm so sorry, I just couldn't help myself!"

I watched in satisfaction as his eyes widened and his smile widened. "Well that's understandable," he joked.

I shook my head but continued to smile as he turned his attention to the little girl and autographed her Jordan Staal jersey.

"So," he asked, when he finished the little girl's jersey and we continued walking, "Did you enjoy your impromptu tour of the Penguins locker room?"

"I was captivated every second of it!" I responded teasingly.

"Ah, that's what I like to hear!" he smiled, pleased.

"Where are we going now?"

"Well, I'm going to get a shower and get dressed. I was just going to introduce you to some of the guys and let them entertain you while I do that."

"Oh, so you're just dumping me off? How thoughtful!" I snapped.

"Well, after that I think I would like to go out and have some fun and get to know you." Jordan replied matter-of-factly.

I studied his face for a moment. He looked back at me eagerly. _Wow, _I thought, _he's being up front with me._ Not only was he being sincere, but he had brushed aside my sarcasm. As I looked into his enthusiastic blue eyes, my strong resolve began to melt. "Alright," I agreed finally, "let's go."

**Annie's POV:**

I sat in the lounge trying to watch TV, but my mind was racing. I wasn't focusing on any one thing but my brain was dancing around different thoughts. I looked around; the lounge was empty now except for an arena employee attempting to straighten up, and Dan Potash chatting animatedly on his phone in the corner. It occurred to me that maybe I should tell my parents what I was doing, but then again I doubted they would really notice or care. My dad was in the hotel business. Right now he was somewhere in Europe promoting a newly opened chain of hotels. My mom was somewhat clueless, so I wasn't too worried about her. She was probably at some party or dinner with her friends.

When I called, her phone went straight to voicemail as usual. I left a brief message saying Andy and I were going out to dinner somewhere in the South Side and hung up. I mean, I couldn't exactly tell her I was going to illegally sneak into a 21 and over dance club with a crazy Russian hockey superstar, could I? That problem aside, I relaxed into the leather couch more.

All of a sudden, Sidney Crosby burst through the door, stormed over to the couch, and plopped down with his head in his hands. Initially, my senses all went haywire. My heart sped up in my chest, my stomach dropped down to my feet, and my legs became shaky. He looked so defeated, however, that for a second I forgot who he was and felt so concerned for him that I actually spoke up.

"Um…hi?" I tried.

He jumped, realizing I was sitting there for the first time.

"Oh, hey. Annie, right?" Sid greeted quietly.

"Yeah, that's right. Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"What? Oh yea, not really," he answered, clearly distracted.

"You want to talk about it? I mean, I know I probably can't help you, but I can at least listen." I tried.

"Thanks, but not right now…" he sighed.

I attempted to make conversation.

"So, are you being dragged to Diesel too?"

"I don't know," he replied sadly, "I'm not so sure I'm in the mood."

"Well, when I'm not in the mood some dancing usually cheers me up."

I wanted so desperately to help him that I blurted this out before I could stop myself. He looked up at me as if really seeing me for the first time. I shivered under his gaze as he quietly studied me for a moment. I boldly looked back at him though, and our eyes locked. I refused to back down from this moment even if my hands were starting to shake. Finally, a weak smile formed on his face.

"You know," he finally replied, "you have a point. I think I may just go."

"Wow really?" I was stunned.

"Yes, but," Sid joked, "don't expect me to dance too much. I'm not so good at that grinding stuff. I always feel so awkward."

"Hey, you can always learn." I smiled encouragingly, "And I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm not a huge fan of it either. I mean I'll do it against my better judgment, but let's just say I have a deep appreciation for the old-fashioned kind of dancing." I explained.

"Really? That's quite refreshing." he said, flashing me a genuine smile.

"Why thank you." I lowered my gaze shyly.

"Well then I guess I'll give it a shot."

"See, you're in a better mood already. I'm so glad you changed your mind!" I beamed.

He sat there for a few more seconds until he suddenly glanced at the clock and said, "Oh man! It's getting late. If I'm going to go, I better go change."

"Alright, sounds like a good idea," I said.

He jumped up and was exiting the room when he turned around abruptly and said, "So, I'll definitely see you there?"

"I guarantee it." I nearly sang.

He continued on his way, and I sat there glowing with excitement and pleasure at the events that had just unfolded. That is, until I realized the predicament I had put myself in. _Annie, what did you just do?! You're supposed to be going with Geno! _I closed my eyes and began deep breathing techniques. "Okay, okay, calm down, you'll figure this out…" I murmured to myself.

**Andy's POV:**

Jordan and I had met up with Evgeni and were entering into the main lounge only to find Annie worriedly talking to herself. "Does she usually hyperventilate and hold conversations with herself Andy?" Jordan chuckled. Annie nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his deep voice. "Oh wow, I'm really sorry you guys. I'm just thinking out loud…"

"Well we'll just have to be sure to not leave you alone anymore!" Jordan quipped jovially.

"HA. HA. So. Funny." Annie replied as she shot him a death glare.

"I'm Jordan by the way; it's so nice to meet you."

"Oh, but the pleasure is all mine!" Annie jibbed back.

I could see the beginning of a beautiful friendship here. I decided to jump in before Annie took his head off, which I knew she was fully capable of doing. "So anyways Annie," I interjected, "Jordan, Geno, and I were just trying to figure out how we're going to get there. We think we're going to leave Jordan's and my cars here and have Geno drive us, sound good?"

All of a sudden, Annie let out a gasp of realization and said, "Never mind how we're getting there! Look at what we're wearing, And! What are we gonna do?" I looked down at my ensemble. I had on a pair of skinny jeans and my Staal jersey. I vaguely remembered deciding it'd be a good idea to write random Penguins' numbers on my face in eyeliner, and Annie had done the same. Basically, we looked like walking Penguins billboards. At least, we hadn't thought of black and gold face paint. Regardless, this was not suitable club wear.

I glanced thoughtfully at Geno and Jordan who were currently looking at each other with puzzled looks on their faces.

"What's wrong with what you are wearing?" Geno asked innocently. His question went unanswered as I looked down at myself again and remembered something.

"Ok, we can fix this. My sister left her gym bag in the car. She always takes half her wardrobe with her wherever she goes. She's small so it might be a tight squeeze for me, but you can fit in something, Annie."

Annie visibly relaxed. We threw on our winter jackets, and the guys showed us a back exit we could use to get to my car. We ran out to the car, wiped the numbers off our faces, and fixed our makeup. Then, we opened my sister's overflowing bag and browsed our options.

"Andy, what the hell is your mom letting your sister wear out of the house!?"

"I have no idea. These are pretty, um, vibrant. Is that the right word?"

"Uuuuuh…."

Annie was speechless as she pulled out an extremely low cut, lacey, dark green halter top. "This is all yours!" she said, shoving it at me.

"Seriously?! You want me to wear _this_?" I said in horror.

"Well, actually, why the hell not? This is already a crazy night."

"I guess you're right. Well in that case, I'm thinking this is right up your ally!"

I tossed an equally lacy, pale pink and black, tank top at her. She read the tag inside which I could guess read XS and promptly burst into laughter. After we had changed in the darkness of the unlit car, we put on the lights and surveyed each other. After close inspection and some more hysterics, we decided that we could make this work. Annie didn't look half as slutty as I did because she wasn't actually far off from my sister's size. With her furry white Hollister jacket over top, she would look decent. My ensemble was another story entirely.

She inspected my outfit seriously. Finally, after much deliberation she gestured to my chest and said, "We need to hide those." All of a sudden, I saw the light bulb click on over her head. She dug around in her bottomless pit of a purse. After a minute she pulled out a small half-sweater and tossed it to me.

"I was planning on wearing this under my jersey if I got cold." She explained.

"You couldn't have just remembered that to begin with?!" I screeched.

She shrugged apologetically. I sighed and shook my head. That was typical Annie. We ran back inside the Igloo, shrieking and shivering in the cold.


	5. It's Good to be Bad!

**Alright, so I know it's been years (literally) since I've updated, but due to a lot of requests I'm going to post another chapter that I wrote a long time ago. Honestly, I haven't really edited it much, so it's far from perfect. I'm just too busy to spend a lot of time writing anymore. **** However, due to the amount of interest in the story I'm just going to post as is, so enjoy!**

**Annie's POV:**

When we entered the locker room through the door the guys had told us to use, both of their jaws dropped. Geno's eyes just about popped out of his head. Jordan nearly fell off the arm of the chair he was sitting on. Andy smirked at him. "Excuse me! Is there something you'd like to say to us?"

"Sorry, I was just so…so surprised at how good you look!" Jordan stammered.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Andy objected.

"That sounded much better in my head." Jordan reflected.

"I think I'm a bit insulted!" I kidded.

"Jordan, these girls look fine all the time." Geno chuckled.

"Thanks. That's better." I approved.

"Honestly though, you don't think these shirts look silly?" Andy questioned.

"No way. You girls look hot!" Geno affirmed.

"I really am sorry guys," Jordan said apologetically, "he's right. You looked SO good before that I just wasn't expecting the overwhelming visions of beauty you are now!

"Well, I guess you've redeemed yourself with that cheesy line." Andy laughed.

"Where did you find that stuff?" Geno asked.

I was about to answer when Sidney strolled into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us and just gaped.

"Hey! What are you staring at buddy?" Andy teased.

"Nothing. I'm not looking at anything!" Sidney looked nervous.

"These are my little sister's shirts. It's the best we could do!"Andrea shot out defensively.

"I wasn't going to say anything!" Sidney was cornered.

"Aw, Andy, be nice! I'm sorry Sid!" I apologized.

I smiled at Sidney as he looked gratefully over at me.

I was about to enter into my trance that was becoming a trend when I looked into Sid's eyes when Geno interrupted saying that we should really be going. Most of the other players had cleared out at this point and made their way over, so the five of us began shuffling out the door. Sidney left us and went to his special secret parking spot, and Jordan and Andy went to move Andy's car into the players' parking lot next to his.

Geno and I left through a special door underneath the arena, through a giant garage, and out into the player parking lot. Although I had dreamed of walking out this exit many times, I was still surprised by the number of people standing around hoping to catch a glimpse of the players with their family and friends as they left the arena. Many hoping to get autographs stood on the sidewalk behind a rope near the exit. As we walked out into the frigid night, I felt Geno stand up a bit taller, and I copied him. He slipped my gloved hand into his and I couldn't help but smile. As soon as people began to register who was walking out of the garage below them, we were assaulted by a wave of shouts and camera flashes.

"Geno! GEEEENOOO! I love you!" an excited girl yelled from up above. He smiled and waved.

"OHMIGAWD DID YOU SEE? He waved to me!" she cried.

A teenaged boy, a little younger than me began shouting,

"Malkin, who is your girlfriend? She's so hot!"

He looked to see my reaction and I giggled.

"You're handling this pretty well," he said.

"Well, I'm somewhat used to it. I get a lot of local publicity through dance, so I don't mind at all."

"Ah, I see. You're a pro!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

"Wait until we get to the club, you haven't seen anything yet."

All of a sudden I heard an ear piercing shriek from right above my head.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! OH MY GOD! ANNIE! ANNIE AMORETTI!"

This, of course, caused me to jerk my head upwards and see the source of this god-awful noise. When I located the person it was coming from I immediately grimaced. It was someone I generally tried to avoid seeing if I could help it. Her name was Kelsey Cowan. With her was her usual posse of girls. She was blonde, dumb, and popular. Way back in middle school, she and I had been best friends. One day, her usual crowd of beautiful, popular people had disowned her for some unknown reason. We had been somewhat friends in elementary school, so she came running to me. We were great friends for three years (or so I thought) until one day, she pushed me over the edge, literally. She pushed me over the edge of a mountain while we were skiing. It all went downhill from there (no pun intended).

I hadn't spoken to her since early on in our freshman year of high school, and the last words we had exchanged hadn't been friendly. So imagine my surprise to see her hanging over the edge of the wall overlooking the parking lot, screaming my name like it had only been a few days since we were last in contact.

"Annie darling, my best friend!" she crowed, "Who is that you're with? Does he like, play hockey? He does, doesn't he?"

Typical, I thought. She doesn't even know who the hell he is, but she obviously wants to jump him. This bitch was the type of person that was friends with whoever came with the biggest benefits. In middle school, I was not top tier, but I was near enough the top that I was the best thing she could settle for. I am usually very forgiving, but yeah, I'll admit it, to this day, I resented her for what she had done.

"Who is _that_?" Geno asked, quizzically staring up at her.

Before I could answer she screamed again, "Ohmygosh Annie, where are you going? Can I come with?"

So, I answered the best way I knew how: silence. I glanced up at her with a confused expression on my face. Finally I said loudly, "I have NO IDEA who that is, Geno. Must be some crazed fan!"

"Play along." I whispered in his ear. He nodded in understanding.

I knew she had heard me because I heard her gasp and yell, "You know who I am bitch! We're best friends!"

"Yeah, you're right Annie, she is a lunatic fan!" Geno said overly loudly.

Thankfully, we were close enough to the car, and far enough away from the crowd of people that I could simply shoot her a look that plainly said what I thought of her. Geno, being a gentleman, opened the door of his black Range Rover for me and helped me in. I reluctantly let go of his hand as I got in and shivered. He walked around and climbed into the driver's side, turned on the car, punched the heat and seat warmers, then turned and stared at me. I slowly turned and looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Alright, spill. What was that all about?" he asked.

I sighed, "It's a long story."

"Well, we have to wait for Andy and Jordan anyways."

"Basically, she was my best friend until she did something awful. I haven't talked to her in like three years. She saw me walking out with you and just wanted to latch on. That's her style, she's a fake."

"Something awful?"

"Well you see," I put on my best story-telling voice, "Where I come from, in the suburbs, most kids are pretty well-off. When I was in middle school, it was the cool thing to go skiing at Seven Springs every weekend. That worked out fine for me because my parents have a condo up there, but there was one problem. I am forbidden from ever putting on a pair of skis."

"Does that have anything to do with how graceful you are?" Geno snickered.

"Excuse me! I'm telling a story! And yes, sort of," I admitted, "It mostly is because I am a competitive dancer, so I cannot get hurt under any circumstances. It's the same thing with Andy and basketball, so it's not just me. I'm not supposed to do anything physical that could hurt me. You must know what that's like, playing pro hockey."

Geno nodded sympathetically.

"Between you and me though, I sneak in some ice skating." I confided.

"You can ice skate?" Geno asked.

"Yes, very well actually. Now let me finish my story!" I scolded.

"Sorry, sorry. I just like learning these things."

"Right. Anyways, out of the kindness of my heart, I invited Kelsey and some of our friends to Seven Springs. One day, we were supposed to go snow tubing, but Kelsey insisted on skiing. I said I would sit it out, but of course she peer-pressured me into skiing. I just told myself I'd stick to the bunny slope. Kelsey promised me that we all would, so I followed her and the rest of the girls to the ski lift. Well, after about fifteen minutes, I realized we weren't going to the easy hill. She led me right to the most advanced hill of course. I nearly had a heart attack. I told her there was no way and started trying to find a way down. I guess I was standing too close to the edge though, and she pushed me over. I made it in one piece, but that's probably the best I can say." I cringed at the memory.

Geno exhaled and whistled.

"Do you know her response? She didn't even apologize. She laughed. Not only was I physically wounded, but so was my pride. I wish I could say that was the definitive end of our friendship, but it wasn't. It only got worse from there. The real end came at the end of the year when she stole the guy I have liked since I was like five. That kind of did it for me."

"Oh…well then I can definitely see why you just majorly dissed her in front of all those people." He peered out the window at her.

"Honestly, it felt really good. I feel so mean, but oh so good."

Geno laughed. "It's good to be bad!" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I raised one eyebrow at him, and he shot his Cheshire Cat grin back at me. Just then, a large uproar began outside. Jordan and Andy had just gotten out of Andy's car and were making there way over to us. They climbed into the backseat and Geno pulled the car out of the spot. I waved sweetly to Kelsey as we drove passed her. She was not amused. Geno chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh wow. Is that Kelsey out there?" Andy asked.

"Why, yes it is." Geno answered knowledgably.

"How do you know?"

"Oh I heard all about her and her evil ways!" Geno grinned.

"Wait, why don't we like this girl?" Jordan asked while looking out at her.

I sighed, "It's a long story…"

As Andy launched into her version of the story, Geno stopped for a few minutes to sign some autographs for the fans waiting behind the rope, but then we were off!

**Well, there you have it. Sorry it's not the best stuff I've produced. I'm going to do my best to pump out some more chapters soon, but like I said they won't be edited very much. I just would really like to get some stuff out there fast for all my readers! **


End file.
